A year ago, I thought 2017 would see additions to the "Lessons from the Convent" blog posts. Now I come to the end of December with difficulty grasping any clear lessons at all. I have glimmers and hints of possible ones, but certainly not enough to write a well-formed post about them. Six months ago, it was all I could do to say the prayer, "I believe you have a lesson for me in this." I suppose a new series of posts called "Vague Hints at Lessons from My Roommate's Couch" would be the best I could muster.

Yes, the devil took some swings at me this year. But this is the counterattack:

Thank
you, God, for the time I spent in the convent. Thank you for the
superior you allowed to be over me. Thank you for the treasured soul of each teacher I didn't understand. Thank you for the work are doing in
me that I can't see. Thank you for the work you have given me to do in
the moment. Thank you for my boss and colleagues. Thank you for the
awesome design with which you created each student and their parents.
Thank you for the singleness wherein I can glorify you. Thank you for the body you gave me to experience the beauty of your natural creation. Thank you that every temporal thing I truly need is provided in my scattered possessions. Thank you for
the work you are preparing for me.

Thank you for redeeming every sin and sorrow, no matter how deep.

O come, let us sing to the Lord;let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!For the Lord is a great God,and a great King above all gods.In his hand are the depths of the earth;the heights of the mountains are his also.The sea is his, for he made it,and the dry land, which his hands have formed.

O come, let us worship and bow down,let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!For he is our God,and we are the people of his pasture,and the sheep of his hand.